Pilots Prevent
November 16, 2021
As students approach the end of fall semester, many are likely feeling a bit anxious about their upcoming exams. It doesn't help that we're all struggling with COVID anxiety too. So, we spoke with Brother Tom Giumenta, UP’s resident expert on study skills and a learning assistance counselor in the Shepard Academic Resource Center, to get his insights on how to get through these final weeks without letting the stress win.
The first step, he says, is to get an assessment of where you stand in terms of your grades. Not knowing can add undue anxiety, and though it’s late in the semester, it might not be too late to improve things. “From that assessment see if there are deficits to overcome,” says Br. Tom. “Maybe you forgot to retake a quiz, or you did three assignments and they’re not up to par but you can ask to do them over again for partial credit.”
Once you have a solid overview of what needs to be done — to improve past work, take care of present work, and prepare for future work — the next step is to plot out how to get it all done.
“I tell people to always put the ‘what’ in the ‘when,’” says Br. Tom. “These tasks are the ‘what,’ and they have to go into the ‘when’ of my life, which is my time.”
That might sound easy enough, but don’t forget many tasks require multiple steps, some of which might be contingent on other things. That’s why Br. Tom says it’s important to think through and schedule each step of a task in order to make a concrete action plan that really works.
“To be able to manage your time well leading up to exams, you have to figure out what’s on that test. That’s the future part. Now, how many chapters and how many handouts do I have to read to prepare for that? And if I have seven days, when will I do which thing? That’s putting the what in the when. And you have to get that planned out for each subject.”
The benefit of creating a schedule is that it creates a clear path forward, automatically reducing feelings of anxiety. “When I’ve learned how to put the what in the when, I feel like I’m in control,” he says. “When I feel like I’m growing in control of a situation my anxiety goes down.”
He says he tells students that “putting the what in the when” is a skill that not only works exceptionally well for managing academic work, it’s also a crucial life skill to master. “As you get older, you’ll have more social obligations than work obligations, and there are only a certain number of hours a day in a week. Many other kinds of things will come up. If you just write down “Mother’s Birthday” on your calendar, and you didn’t write down when you’re going to buy her a present, you’re going to show up empty handed. It’s an adult skill that is necessary to avoid embarrassment, clumsiness, and people being upset with you.”
Another way to practice adulting? Face your problems head-on. “I have a little slogan and I really believe in it strongly: Do not hide. We can help just about anyone if we know the problem,” says Br. Tom. “But sometimes we have students who become kind of embarrassed or ashamed and won’t leave the dorm or tell anyone about things that are difficult and just keep throwing those quizzes under the bed.” But burying your head in the sand always makes things so much worse. “Have confidence in the professionalism and care and concern of the staff and faculty at UP,” he says. “You can find someone who will be able to really relate well to your particular situation. Do not hide.”
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